India: $1 Trillion Solar Investment with World Bank

Last Thursday World Bank and India signed an agreement with the International Solar Alliance (ISA) to mobilize $1 trillion in investments by 2030.

World Bank is committed to support Indiaâ€™s ambitious initiatives to expand solar energy generation by lending more than $1 billion and $625 million grid-connected rooftop solar programme.

World Bank president Jim Yong Kim stated that they signed an agreement with the ISA, consisting of 121 countries led by India, to collaborate on increasing solar energy use around the world, with the goal of mobilizing $1 trillion in investments by 2030. This agreement establishes the World Bank group as a financial partner for the alliance.

â€œAs part of the agreement, the (World) Bank Group will develop a roadmap to mobilize financing for development and deployment of affordable solar energy, and work with other multilateral development banks and financial institutions to develop financing instruments to support solar energy development,â€ Kim says.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley was also present at the signing of the agreement.

ISA was launched at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris on 30 November last year by Modi and French President Francois Hollande.

Kim met both Modi and Jaitley during his two-day visit. The multilateral lender will continue to support the Modi governmentâ€™s renewable energy push.

â€œThe prime minister understands the World Bank better than us and always pushes us to move faster and faster, keeping pace with him. Indiaâ€™s plans to virtually triple the share of renewable energy by 2030 will both transform the countryâ€™s energy supply and have far-reaching global implications in the fight against climate change. Prime Minister Modiâ€™s personal commitment toward renewable energy, particularly solar, is the driving force behind these investments,â€ said Kim, while applauding the Modi government for its Swachh Bharat Mission, which is also partly financed by the Bank.

India welcomed the $1 billion loan from the World Bank to boost their solar energy programme. â€œIt is a positive move, but the exact details of the loanâ€”like interest ratesâ€”are not clear as yet. Also, more information is needed about technology imports and funding for the rural sector,â€ senior programme manager, climate change, at the Centre for Science and Environment at Delhi Rakesh Kamal said.